[Signing] Gaudreau to Columbus (7 x $9.75 million)

[midniteowl]

Originally Posted by Roger

I can see why you say that, but maybe it was just a little too late? He's already been around the block with Treliving. Maybe he thinks the Flames were unprofessional? Lots of ways to twist this.

The thing is, if he wasn't happy with negotiating with Treliving because of the past, then don't. Tell the team I'm not negotiating, I'm walking. That's his right, totally understandable. If he'd done that, I would not blame him one bit.



OBTW, I'm over it. Not mad anymore.

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by PaperBagger'14

I had a job offer to work out of north Carolina for more money, lower taxes and way lower cost of living. During the interview process I told the potential employer I had a few obligations I needed to fulfill here first before taking the position.

I had 2 more interviews (including a short trip to Durham and the office). When the potential employer wanted me to leave prior to finishing my work here, I declined the offer. So, yes, I do expect other professionals to act professional.

So in your case the employer pushed for resolution sooner than worked for you. You declined, they got on with their lives.

Are you 100% sure you would have accepted if they were willing to wait longer?

[activeStick]

Originally Posted by Heavy Jack

Lol ‘flip’ ?? Is that what hip is these days?? I’m old?!?!

I think he's referring to that poster having a different handle before, which was 'flip'

[Fighting Banana Slug]

Originally Posted by Roger

I guess nobody has a good answer for me about why it's ok for the Flames to wait until a few days before FA to present final best offer, but JG is supposed to have gone back in time and pre-determined whether he'd take it?

If the Flames wanted an answer, they should have presented before their internal deadline. They did not. It's not JG's fault that he had a few days to think it over. But you do you. Go ahead and hate the guy that could have left years ago because our management plays the game the same way agents and players play it. Nobody is wrong here, except the whining fans that think that JG did us dirty.

It's because your premise is flawed. Every offer the Flames offered was the best they had, when they gave it. (Assuming each offer was higher). They tried to sign him. They thought he was interested. They matched his ask (at least that seems to be the implication, we may never know). Then he turned it down. That is why some are still mad. That's it. Totally understandable. The rest of this nonsense, I can't explain or defend.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by PaperBagger'14

I never would have pictured you as the poster child for capitalism. Bold choice you mustard tiger! But really trying to draw comparisons between similar situations should not be allowed on this board. Well, good news, a well glazed cheeseburger walrus like you will probably never face the difficulty of a difficult decision like that. Hows your OF gut pics doing these days?

The problem is that you think your experience as a middle manager is a similar situation to an NHL player in free agency in the first place and that facing “the difficulty of a difficult decision” like turning down a job offer is rarified air.

Like, we get it. And I’m not saying there’s no comparisons or personal anecdotes allowed or anything like that (who would care if I was?). But two weeks of these irrelevant personal anecdotes contrasted against the pure assumption of Gaudreau’s motive or the details of the negotiation is pushing the upper limit.

And when anecdotes about things like professionalism are coming from a guy who can think of 15 different ways to call a stranger fat on the internet but can’t even come up with a single synonym for difficult so he ends up using the genius phrase “difficulty of a difficult decision,” it’s clear we’re not dealing with the best and brightest minds of a generation here.

[devo22]

this video is so, so weird. This was the biggest UFA to hit the market in many years, and like others have pointed out, teams should have to fight tooth and nail in that situation to get him. Instead they're chilling in the office and he just falls into their laps, while Rick Nash refers to him as Gudbranson's friend. Everything about this signing is just so strange ... in all honesty, good for Columbus, but it's really odd how all of this has played out.

[Hockey_Ninja]

Tbh, I think I’m not as hurt as others are by Johnny leaving because I can empathize with him a bit. It was hard for me to leave Calgary and come back to the States. I didn’t GM have a choice like Johnny did but it definitely wasn’t easy to leave. I truly do believe Johnny struggled with what he wanted to do and it ultimately came down to doing what would make things easier for his wife and their families

[Macman]

I’m also glad we moved on from Gaudreau, I’m looking forward to a big skilled guy like Jonathan Huberdeau in the lineup. I think it changes the dynamics of the team quite a bit and we’ll be harder to play against.

[Johnny Makarov]

Originally Posted by devo22

this video is so, so weird. This was the biggest UFA to hit the market in many years, and like others have pointed out, teams should have to fight tooth and nail in that situation to get him. Instead they're chilling in the office and he just falls into their laps, while Rick Nash refers to him as Gudbranson's friend. Everything about this signing is just so strange ... in all honesty, good for Columbus, but it's really odd how all of this has played out.

Just watched it. That GM was like "is this a good thing?"
like wtf?

Mickey Mouse organization who will never win anything.

[dino7c]

Well TBH it might not be a good thing for them...I mean really how good are they??

This probably keeps them around 10th in the east, they already had to give away one of their best players to make the cap work. As much as they got a "good deal" its still almost 10M a year.

truth is nobody but Calgary wanted him all that badly, makes you wonder why...Charts and points aside GMs obviously don't see him anywhere near that very top tier

[Inferno]

Originally Posted by Johnny Makarov

Just watched it. That GM was like "is this a good thing?"
like wtf?

Mickey Mouse organization who will never win anything.

The thing about Nash saying "Gudbranson's buddy that he played with last year" sounded stupid too. Just say "Gaudreau".

I don't care how little people in the East care about the Western Conference. He should be known league wide by now. I don't pay much attention to the Eastern Conference but know all of their top players.

[devo22]

also, props to Gudbransons agent for keeping it together when the guy repeated "4 x 4". Must have been difficult to make it through all of these talks without bursting into laughter ... surely, they couldn't believe their ears.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by dino7c

Well TBH it might not be a good thing for them...I mean really how good are they??

This probably keeps them around 10th in the east, they already had to give away one of their best players to make the cap work. As much as they got a "good deal" its still almost 10M a year.

truth is nobody but Calgary wanted him all that badly, makes you wonder why...Charts and points aside GMs obviously don't see him anywhere near that very top tier

It was pretty clear to any western team that may be interested that outside of the Flames, Gaudreau's wasn't signing out west. The Devils were right there but it seems his wife wanted Columbus because she has family there. It's less the player and more the salary cap situations a lot of teams are in right now. Kadri is a really good player himself and he can't find a team right now. There was a time when teams would have been tripping over themselves trying to sign Kane regardless of past transgressions but today teams are so tight up against the cap they simply can't afford to commit cap space to guy that has a questionable past.

[manwiches]

Originally Posted by devo22

this video is so, so weird. This was the biggest UFA to hit the market in many years, and like others have pointed out, teams should have to fight tooth and nail in that situation to get him. Instead they're chilling in the office and he just falls into their laps, while Rick Nash refers to him as Gudbranson's friend. Everything about this signing is just so strange ... in all honesty, good for Columbus, but it's really odd how all of this has played out.

I wonder if it was staged to be honest.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by devo22

this video is so, so weird. This was the biggest UFA to hit the market in many years, and like others have pointed out, teams should have to fight tooth and nail in that situation to get him. Instead they're chilling in the office and he just falls into their laps, while Rick Nash refers to him as Gudbranson's friend. Everything about this signing is just so strange ... in all honesty, good for Columbus, but it's really odd how all of this has played out.

A lot of teams were also probably wary of Gaudreau's contract demands. $10ish million x 8 years is a lot of cap. Gaudreau was coming off a career year, is turning 29, is undersized, and has a history of inconsistent playoff performances.

I'm not really sure it's fair to describe him as a bigger opportunity than guys like Stone, Tavares, Panarin, etc.. even though he may have had more points this season.

Plus we've also had an unprecedented multi year flat cap scenario.

[Sainters7]

Originally Posted by Fighting Banana Slug

It's because your premise is flawed. Every offer the Flames offered was the best they had, when they gave it. (Assuming each offer was higher). They tried to sign him. They thought he was interested. They matched his ask (at least that seems to be the implication, we may never know). Then he turned it down. That is why some are still mad. That's it. Totally understandable. The rest of this nonsense, I can't explain or defend.

Yeah exactly. It just seems like it was handled poorly in the end. I really don't think people would be mad if he ended up in Philly/Jersey/Islanders/Rangers, etc, it was kind of expected. Just the way it played out with him going somewhere that random, and how it seemed like he was driving it to go there after Philly/Jersey fell through was so weird. Plus the alleged games with rejecting their own accepted "take it or leave it" deal at the last second. Gives off a vibe that he wanted to be ANYWHERE but here, I think it's a bad look for the organization, and hurts the Flames (and the city's) brand when it comes to luring free agents. There's a reason Tre said he thinks the city and org took some body-shots last week and he's ######.

What's done is done, time to move on, I'm certainly not seething about it or anything. But as someone mentioned earlier in this thread, sports are supposed to be fun. He left on a bad note, and (inadvertently) made the team and the city look unattractive in the process with how it was handled and kind of looks like a liar, so now he'll get booed when he makes his on ice return. It's fun, and totally within the realm of normal sports fan behaviour when a star leaves on a sour note. And it's going to happen, so I hope people are prepared to hear that on his return.

[Tacoman]

I have a friend who is an NHL executive for a team in the US and he said that any team that uses analytics heavily was at a max of $8 million for Johnny. When he came out to the market, the offers just weren't there. Lewis Gross just completely misred the market. Only two teams were desperate enough to go against the analytics - the Flames who wanted to keep the face of the franchise and Columbus who can never sign a free agent and don't really care.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

It was pretty clear to any western team that may be interested that outside of the Flames, Gaudreau's wasn't signing out west. The Devils were right there but it seems his wife wanted Columbus because she has family there. It's less the player and more the salary cap situations a lot of teams are in right now. Kadri is a really good player himself and he can't find a team right now. There was a time when teams would have been tripping over themselves trying to sign Kane regardless of past transgressions but today teams are so tight up against the cap they simply can't afford to commit cap space to guy that has a questionable past.

Well I don't think this is true...He wants to go back to the Avs by all accounts but they don't have the space yet

He might have to settle elsewhere but he will find a team and a big contract 100%. Supposedly he has 10+ offers.

Philly could have had Gaudreau and they said nah, something is a bit off...2nd leading scoring in the league and all.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by dino7c

Well I don't think this is true...He wants to go back to the Avs by all accounts but they don't have the space yet

He might have to settle elsewhere but he will find a team and a big contract 100%. Supposedly he has 10+ offers.

Philly could have had Gaudreau and they said nah, something is a bit off...2nd leading scoring in the league and all.

And none of them are the money or term he was expecting. He would have signed with a team on the 1st day of free agency had a team met his salary and term demands.

[Mr.Coffee]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

It was pretty clear to any western team that may be interested that outside of the Flames, Gaudreau's wasn't signing out west. The Devils were right there but it seems his wife wanted Columbus because she has family there.

Which is also kind of dumb because there are a bunch of western teams that are in similar proximity to "home" as CLB is for the Gaudreaus.

So this really comes down to her wanting to go home and has little to do with Gaudreau wanting to go home, and also explains the bizarro decisions and way this all rolled out.